Research and Find the Fact 11th February 2016

As part of the Sharing Heritage side of the Invisible Boundaries Project, on the 11th February 2016 we went to the Derby Local Studies and Family History Library to carry out a Research and Find the Fact session. We had a chance to go through old documents, books and newspapers and discover interesting facts and news about the Arboretum Park.

It was a journey back to the past, a chance to discover what the society was like years back and also a way to find out how the park changed over the time. The past cannot be ignored because it influences the present. A people’s shared past is part of their shared culture. It is what makes them unique, making them who they are.

One of the participants came across an interesting article on the Derby Evening Telegraph dated September 1990. The article was about the 150th anniversary of the Arboretum Park. Dozens of events were held at the park and the opening event was such a success that more than 25.000 people attended and the town council declared a 3 day holiday (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, September 19th to September 29th, 1990).

It was interesting to see how the Arboretum Park was celebrated in the past and how many similarities we found with the recent celebration of the park through the 175th Anniversary event and the Invisible Boundaries Project launch held at the Orangery in the Arboretum Park on Friday, 7th August 2015.

The theme in both the celebration events was the concept of being good neighbours, the idea of neighbourhood and giving back to the community. Both the events underlined the importance of the Arboretum to the people of Derby and nearby. This was also Joseph Strutt’s main objective: he wanted to offer a public garden and a place of recreation as a special thank you for the people of Derby and the surrounding neighbourhood.

There are so many fascinating facts surrounding the Arboretum and with the Invisible Boundaries project we want to give people a chance to learn and share their knowledge about this wonderful heritage we have in Derby.